Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to methods and apparatus for Raman spectroscopy.
Description of the Related Art
Raman scattering spectroscopy is a powerful tool that has found numerous applications in a wide variety of areas ranging from fundamental studies, such as molecular dynamics, to practical applications, such as chemical sensing. The Raman scattering spectrum is molecule specific and can serve as a “fingerprint” to uniquely identify different molecular species. Unfortunately, Raman scattering is usually very weak due to its rather small scattering cross-section (e.g., typical differential scattering cross-section dσ/dΩ: 10−29-10−30 cm2/steradian/molecule). Therefore, efforts have been made to enhance the Raman scattering signal.
Although significant advances have been made to Raman signal enhancement, further work remains.